I need to replace my middle chainring and I don't know that much about the different manufacturers. I don't have the riding skill or budget to justify any "top of the line" light weight parts, but I do need something that's going to stand up to some abuse. Any recommendations?

There is a diameter of the chain ring you need to measure. If it's a removable chain ring crank. On cheaper bikes, you cannot remove them.

Go to a LBS and they can measure and figure out what chain ring you will need. They can also discuss what teeth count you might need

also, lube your chain with chain oil and loosen your tension on your drive chain. I've never had any teeth wear down on me over 100,000 accumulative miles of riding and I have no idea how people wear down their parts so quickly.

Well, I got a branch jammed between the middle and larger chainring and it bent the middle chain ring pretty badly. The mechanic I took it to was only able to bend it back to being "relatively" straight and one of the teeth snapped off. I didn't have the money to replace it at the time, and now I'm trying to learn how to do as much mechanic work on my own as I can. So, with the chain ring bent the way it is, it's putting sideways tension on the chain at regular intervals and sometimes causes my chain to slip, which is really fun while climbing.